Monday, 10 August 2015

US: Shots fired as Ferguson marks one year since the police killing of Michael Brown

Michael Brown Sr, centre, leads a march from the location where his son Michael was shot

Two people were struck by gunfire in the midst of a late-night
confrontation on Sunday between riot police and protesters, police said,
after a day of peaceful events in Ferguson, Missouri, commemorating the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager by a white police officer one year ago.

unmarked cars with a bullet hole in the windscreen

Gunshots erupted as police were seeking to
disperse a crowd of demonstrators who began blocking traffic and
smashing windows along a street that was a flashpoint of last year's
unrest following the slaying of 18-year-old Michael Brown.

The condition of the two people shot was not immediately known, police said.

Anniversary commemorations for Brown had begun with a quiet march
through the St. Louis suburb following a moment of silence for the
teenager, whose slaying on Aug. 9, 2014, ignited months of
demonstrations and a national debate on race and justice.

The
scene changed dramatically after dark with dozens of protesters blocking
traffic and smashing store windows along West Florissant Avenue, which
bore the brunt of last summer's rioting, chanting "Shut it down" in the
midst of a severe thunderstorm.

A crowd prays at the spot where Michael Brown was fatally shot in Ferguson

A phalanx of helmeted police
wearing body armor and carrying shields moved in. Protesters briefly
fell away before regrouping to confront the line of officers, who
ordered them to disperse.

The protesters, locking arms and
edging closer to the police cordon, began throwing water bottles and
shouting, "We are ready for war!" Both sides held their ground, and
police did not move immediately to make any arrests as clergy members
and activists circulated between the two sides appealing for calm.